Rosalie:
For several horrifying seconds, I couldn’t separate the nightmare from reality.
My body jerked violently against the bed as cold panic still clung to like icy water wrapped around my throat. My chest rose and fell unevenly while my heartbeat pounded so hard it physically hurt.
Alastor’s cold eyes, Charlotte’s smile, the feeling of falling, the freezing river swallowing whole - it all still felt real. Too real.
A trembling breath escaped as I pressed a shaky hand against my chest, trying desperately to calm myself down. My entire body was damp with sweat despite the warmth of the room, and tears sared across my face and neck.
"It was just a nightmare," I whispered weakly to myself. But my voice sounded fragile and unconvincing.
I swallowed hard and forced myself to look around properly, taking in the dim warm golden lighting and the unfamiliar luxurious room. It reminded imdiately that I was at Eiden Thorn’s house, and not on that cliff.
I squeezed my eyes shut briefly and inhaled deeply through my nose before exhaling slowly, repeating the sa words inside my head over and over again - You are safe. You are okay. It was just a nightmare.
Another shaky breath escaped as I wiped my face roughly with my sleeve. My throat burned painfully dry, and only then did I realize how thirsty I was.
Carefully, I turned my head toward the bedside table and noticed the water jug sitting there beside an empty glass.
Relief imdiately washed through .
Slowly and cautiously, I reached toward it while trying not to aggravate my injuries. My body still ached heavily, but compared to earlier, the pain had dulled significantly.
But just as my fingers brushed the glass, the door opened, and startled . My hand jerked instinctively, knocking the glass right off the table, and the sound of shattering glass exploded through the quiet room.
"Oh!"
Panic imdiately flooded .
"I’m sorry!" The apology burst out before I even properly looked up.
The glass had shattered all over the floor beside the bed, glittering beneath the warm light, and guilt instantly twisted inside my chest.
"I just wanted water-I didn’t an to-" Without thinking, I tried to climb out of bed. My body protested imdiately at the sudden movent, but I ignored it completely as panic continued rising higher and higher inside .
"I’ll clean it up," I rushed out quickly. "I’m really sorry, I didn’t do it on purpose-"
"Rosalie."
The voice cut through my panic instantly. It was warm, steady, and calm. I froze, and only then did I finally look up properly and see Eiden standing near the doorway.
He had probably just showered because his long silver hair was slightly damp, falling loosely around his face and shoulders in a way that sohow made him look even more unfairly attractive. He wore darker clothes this ti - a black silk shirt beneath a long grey robe-like outer layer - and sohow the colors only made those deep blue eyes stand out more.
He stepped toward and spoke calmly, "You need to relax."
I blinked at him for a mont before realizing just how hard I was breathing and how tightly my hands were shaking. Embarrassnt flooded through imdiately.
"I broke your glass," I muttered weakly.
Eiden’s gaze briefly flickered toward the shattered pieces on the floor before returning to . And then, he completely ignored the ss. Instead of addressing the glass, he simply moved closer and gently guided back properly against the pillows before I could hurt myself further trying to get out of bed.
"Forget the glass."
His hands settled lightly against my shoulders as he adjusted my position carefully. They felt warm, and steady. The simple touch sohow cald almost instantly in a way that genuinely shouldn’t have been possible.
I couldn’t help but question how much comfort my exhausted body seed to find in his presence already.
Once he was certain I was settled properly, he crossed the room toward the sitting area near the enormous glass wall almost hidden with the dark curtains. There were couches arranged around a low coffee table.
He picked up another glass from the table before returning to my bedside. He then poured the water himself and handed it to carefully.
The mont the glass touched my hands, I drank. Fast. Actually, far too fast. Cold water flooded my dry throat like salvation itself, and before Eiden could stop like earlier, I had already emptied nearly the entire glass.
When I finally lowered it, breathing lightly, I noticed him staring at , not with disapproval but with shock.
For half a second he just watched but then that familiar amused smile slowly returned to his lips again. He shook his head slightly before taking the empty glass from my hands. "I see soone ignored my earlier instructions."
Heat crept faintly into my cheeks. "I was thirsty," I defended weakly.
"So I noticed." His voice carried obvious amusent now.
After setting the glass back down, he looked toward again and asked, "May I check your injuries?"
The question surprised slightly. Most healers never asked permission before touching patients. But sohow, Eiden asking felt natural.
I nodded quietly.
He stepped closer imdiately, gently reaching for my injured arm first. His fingers carefully adjusted the position of the cast while checking for tenderness and swelling.
As he moved my arm slightly, I realized sothing strange. It barely hurt, at least not the way it had earlier. There was still soreness, a dull lingering ache beneath the surface, but compared to the agony from before, the difference felt shocking.
Confusion flickered through . "How long was I asleep this ti?"
Eiden glanced toward the expensive silver wristwatch resting around his wrist before answering casually, "A little over fourteen hours."
My eyes widened. "Fourteen?!"
A faint smile tugged at his lips. "The dicine worked very well." His fingers moved lower carefully, checking my fractured leg this ti that also no longer hurt. "And so did your wolf."
I blinked at that. "My... wolf?" The words ca out almost blankly.
Eiden humd softly in acknowledgnt while continuing his examination. But I could barely process anything else after that.
My wolf?
No. That couldn’t be right. My wolf had always been weak. Pathetically weak. So weak that outside of full moon nights, I had never even successfully shifted properly.
Even after years, I still couldn’t form a proper bond with her the way normal wolves did. Most pack mbers could communicate with their wolves naturally by adolescence. But I never could.
That weakness followed my entire life. People whispered about it constantly growing up, about how I was weak, broken, defective, and unworthy. And honestly, they weren’t entirely wrong.
It was one of the biggest reasons my relationship with Alastor, Darien, and Kaiser had always remained hidden. Because no one would ever accept a Luna like . Not soone weak and wolfless in everything but na, especially not for three powerful Alphas.
I pushed the bitter thoughts away before they could consu again.
Eiden was probably just being polite. Because there was no way my weak wolf had contributed much to my recovery. Everything was because of him and his healing ability.
I watched silently as his fingers carefully moved along my ribs through the soft silk fabric covering . Only then did another realization suddenly hit .
I looked down at myself properly. I was wearing a pastel green silk shirt and soft loose trousers, not my dress from my birthday night. My heartbeat imdiately started climbing as I realized soone had changed my clothes.
Slowly, my gaze lifted toward Eiden’s side profile while he remained focused on examining my injuries. And before I could stop myself, the question slipped out quietly. "Who else lives here with you?"
Eiden didn’t even pause. His calm blue eyes lifted toward mine as he answered simply, "I live alone."
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